The term interview evaluation form sounds like just another piece of paper created by a bureaucrat. In truth, if done correctly, such a tool will serve to minimize hiring mistakes.

Specifically the improvement come in three areas; consistency , improved notes and less personal bias in hiring recommendations. Here are the 3 top reasons to use an interview evaluation tool like a form.

Interview Consistency

Below we have included an example form you can download. In this example the questions being asked in the interview are included as part of the form. Additionally space is include for the interviewers notes. Having the questions on single piece of paper will likely lead to a thorough interview as the interviewer can just go down the list. It also insures each candidate gets a chance to answer the same questions. This will lead to a more consistent evaluation allowing you to comparing apples to apples in the interview.

Better Interviewer Notes

The sample form is purposely laid out with a notes section for each question. This allows the interviewer to capture notes for each question. The result will be better notes with more clarity.

More Impartial Results

Finally at the end of the interview, the interview, with all the notes in hand can go about the task of rating the candidates. In this example the interviewer assigns a rating of 1 to 4 with 4 being the top grade. The interviewer is now done.

The completed form is sent to the hiring coordinator. The coordinator then applies a weight to each criteria. The weight is derived from the importance of the criteria in the job. The product of the weight and the rating creates a score. Then the scores are summed to generate interview score. This score can them used be to compare to other candidates in the interview process.

Summary

An interview evaluation form will help eliminate hiring mistakes from 'gut feeling' hiring. Also if after everyone is done interviewing, there is general agreement then you can be confident of a good hiring decision. If there is little agreement, this allows for a great starting point for further debate and discussion. Either way you make hiring decisions.

Here is an example of an interview evaluation form you can download for free.